FEATURE ON SAWING

Prosaw grows service department

Avoiding downtime and keeping production running is vital for meeting manufacturing deadlines and maximising profit. To provide a best-in-industry service and continue responding quickly to customers’ machine servicing requirements, Prosaw has recently added two members to its support team, creating what the company believes is the largest service support team within the industry.

The 22 personnel making up the Prosaw service department comprises field technicians based throughout the UK, as well as engineers and support personnel based at Prosaw’s centrally located head office in the UK.

All field engineers carry a satellite stock of the most commonly required spare parts and consumables in their vehicles to ensure no time is lost in sourcing parts. Prosaw engineers are backed up by spare stock levels worth over £1 million, with a current stock range of over 4000 individual items, all computerised to enable quick identification and same-day dispatch. In addition to field engineers, Prosaw’s telephone support line and in-house engineering facility make a complete machinery support team to support the industry.

Prosaw’s managing director Phil Crick says: “This really underlines our commitment to our customers for first-class aftersales support when they put their trust in Prosaw.”
For further information www.prosaw.co.uk

Curtain up for the Vollmer CHX saw blade grinder

At the GrindTec 2018 exhibition earlier this year, Vollmer launched its CHX 840 grinding machine. Capable of sharpening the tooth face and top of circular saw blades in one set-up, the machine is also tailored to the requirements of sharpening specialists and sawmill operators that have to continuously re-sharpen circular saws.

The machine is suitable for machining carbide-tipped circular saw blades with a diameter up to 840mm. With five CNC-controlled axes, the CHX 840 can machine saw blades with all common tooth geometries. This also applies to sawing with axial angle and group toothing.A transverse feed pawl with pneumatic lifting also permits machining of clamping segments and clamping rings.

Vollmer hasmade the CHX 840 available with different automation levels to reduce machining and set-up times. For example, the machine has an optional automatic set-up process, which consists of running in the saw blade, diameter detection as well as an acoustic sensor for touching. With the integrated sensor system of the feed pawl, the input of the tooth pitch is no longer necessary, and the automatic setting of the hook and clearance angle avoids adjustment errors.

The HS automation solution ensures automatic loading of the CHX in order to realise unmanned operation of up to seven hours. The programming and preparation of the saw blade stack is possible during machine operation. Thanks to a saw blade stack height of up to 180mm, the automatic machine loading can hold up to 25 circular saw blades. As saws are stacked with intermediate layers, teeth and blade damage can be avoided.
For further information www.vollmer-group.com

ADS Precision named sole UK agent for MEBA

ADS Precision recently announced that it has joined in partnership with MEBA to become its sole UK distributor for all sales and service requirements.

MEBA, which was established in 1958, has won many awards and holds numerous patented designs, including an innovative mitring system. The company’s production facility is based in Westerheim, Germany, although it has an extensive sales and service network within international markets.
MEBA, which has machines installed around the world, can offer a wide range of metal-cutting bandsaws, from small, manual, semi-automatic saws up to double-mitre, fully automatic CNC bandsaws. The company also manufactures customised infeed and outfeed material-handling systems with a variety of material end stops to suit bespoke requirements.
A further part of the portfolio is a new machine for the separation of 3D printed parts from the base plate, for which MEBA has developed a concept that is said to offer fast process times, good cutting results and low operating costs. With a design based on the straight saws of the MEBA-Eco product family, the new MEBA3D (pictured) is equipped with a special clamping device for mounting the base plates. Compared with conventional production processes such as wire EDM, the MEBA3D is said to be straightforward with just a few simple steps. The bandsaw can also be used for standard sawing work with a low conversion effort.
For further information www.adsprecision.com

Kaltenbach UK now represents HE&M

Kaltenbach is now the UK and Ireland sales and service representative for HE&M Saw, a US-based specialist in bandsaw technology.

Among the portfolio is the HSS series of pivot-frame horizontal bandsaws for solid materials, tubes, profiles and sections. Variants are available from semi-automatic to full CNC, with bar feeding capabilities and single directional mitring functionality. Also offered is the HSC range of dual-column bandsaws for cutting larger solid materials and heavy sections. Further HE&M machines, such as vertical bandsaws and plate saws, can also be ordered from Kaltenbach.
HE&M Saw designs and manufactures a range of both horizontal and vertical bandsaws, with many thousands of installations in North America, Canada and Mexico. Based in Oklahoma, the company’s history extends back over 50 years and remains under family ownership and management. HE&M Saw’s product range includes over 60 models, designed for solid metal, profile and plate sawing applications across the metal processing industries.
The range starts with a selection of pivot-frame models, suitable for sawing materials up to 400 mm diameter. Each machine is designed and built with a classic, heavy-duty ‘American’ style. The saw bow is arranged to ensure that the weights and cutting forces are contained directly within the pivot and kerf channel, giving high cut performance. This configuration overcomes the commonly expected wear or cut-quality issues associated with many, low-cost alternatives, says the company.
For larger capacity sawing, HE&M also manufactures dual-column bandsaws, ranging from 450 mm all the way up to 1340 mm diameter capacity. A heavy-duty design approach is again taken, with a robust portal frame equipped with low-friction guides and mechanically balanced travel to ensure that the bow descent remains consistent and true to the material.
For further information www.kaltenbach.co.uk

Master sharpens focus on saw grinding wheels

Master Abrasives has recently released a new range of Master Sawpro grinding wheels with a high-technology bond system specially engineered for the saw-sharpening industry.

The Sawpro range of wheels uses a resin bond developed for a cool-cutting action and longer life than alternative wheels. Sawpro wheels are specially designed for the manufacturing and re-sharpening of high-speed circular saws, and sharpening the tops and faces of carbide-tipped saw teeth.
Master’s Sawpro wheels are available in superabrasive and conventional abrasive grains, in all shapes and sizes. The popular industry specifications are 14F1 CBN wheels, which are suitable for Loroch machines, and diamond wheels, which suit most Vollmer machines for top and face grinding applications.
Ian Meredith, applications engineering manager, says: “Our team has developed the Sawpro range to deliver excellent performance with a cool cut, while offering great value for money. For the 14F1 CBN and diamond wheels, we will be holding stock of the most popular wheel sizes and grades.”
Master Abrasives launched the Sawpro line of grinding wheels at the GrindTec exhibition in Germany earlier this year. The key advantages of the high-technology bond system wheels were well-received by visiting engineers who work in the saw-sharpening industry.
“There was a lot of interest shown for Sawpro grinding wheels at the GrindTec event,” says Meredith. “Industry was missing a high-quality product for saw grinding that is also cost-effective, but the Master brand now fills that gap. We can offer full support with wheel selection and trials through our dedicated applications engineering team and overseas distributors to help manufacturers achieve their saw production and re-sharpening requirements.”
For further information www.master-abrasives.co.uk